As the far-right is gaining popularity in France, and becomes too close to win French Legislative elections, North African doctors don’t shy away from the idea of leaving France, as showed Reuters.
Tunisian doctor Tasnime Labiedh living in Southern France told Reuters “Already we are not spoiled here, but if we have Bardella as prime minister, it will be grim.”
The 33-year-old doctor relocated to France in 2021 during the COVID-19 epidemic for her medical internship and now works as a microbiologist on a lesser income than her French competitors.
Following the RN’s victory in the first round of France’s legislative election last Sunday, several doctors of foreign origin are considering whether to stay in a nation that they believe does not respect their rights or make them feel welcome.
Reuters interviewed 11 doctors of North African origin or nationality, six of them stated they were considering leaving France due to the political environment. One doctor immigrated to Canada a month ago.
Following Luxembourg, France has the most acute doctor shortage among OECD countries, with only 3.17 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants. Labiedh’s community has 1.73 doctors per 1000 residents.
Sociologist at France’s national center for scientific research, the CNRS Hichan Benaissa said: “We are living in an immense hypocrisy. The far right prospers in France on the subject of immigration, with migrants depicted as a problem. But if migrants stopped working tomorrow, our whole social and economic system would be paralyzed.”
In a study of 350 North African doctors in France that will be published next year, Benaissa discovered that 75% of doctors, including those trained overseas and those born in France, were thinking about emigrating.
Bardella, the most likely candidate for prime minister if the RN defies polls and wins a working majority, stated last month that “our compatriots of foreign nationality or origin who work, pay their taxes, respect the law, and love our country have nothing to fear”.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the RN, has previously suggested “dramatically reducing” the employment of doctors with non-EU diplomas and prioritizing French candidates for jobs.
According to the National Council of the Order of Doctors 29,238 doctors in France were trained outside the EU in 2023, a 90.5% increase from 2010, accounting for around 7% of the overall workforce. North African doctors make up more than half of them.
Widad Abdi, a doctor and representative of the SNPADHUE union for doctors qualified outside of the EU, said that politicians are not addressing structural issues.
“Whether foreign or not, more and more doctors are leaving – the health system does not encourage them to stay: the working conditions, the pay, the hours, the number of patients has increased and the number of doctors has gone down.”